Thursday, March 24, 2011

Whew, what a whirlwind week! You might have read of last week's visit from Stitchin' Rock Star Joan Seidel. Well, this past Tuesday I was astounded by another famous visitor. I had to double-check my zip code because with all the celebrities popping in the shop, I was thinking it was 90212! Where do all the celebs go when they want to be seen? I may need to get a red carpet in front of the shop soon!! LOL

I was minding my own business, taking care of shop paperwork & ordering when a customer walked in the front door. I greeted her and left her to her own meanderings. She was there with husband in tow which made me think that they were out enjoying some of the small town atmosphere of Lemont. A lot of times couples will stroll into the shop simply because they want to find out what it is that the store sells.

Shortly after arriving, my customer informed me that she heard of my shop through the blogs and had read of Joan's visit. My customer, Melody, traveled all the way from the Quad-Cities area to visit my shop! Best of all, her dear husband volunteered to drive her to Lemont on his day off! You gotta love a guy like that! Unfortunately, I left my camera at my MILs house so AGAIN I had no camera! Waaaahhh! I apologize in advance for the horrible picture quality but I had to use my phone! Here's Melody and her husband Mike.

We swapped stories back and forth and I also discovered that Melody has a blog. Melody is new to the blog world so swing by and check it out. She loves to stitch Prairie Schooler, Little House Needleworks and Blackbird Designs! She also shows a finish of a Marjolein Bastin piece that is just amazing! I see that this traveling duo have just returned home from a week long trip to the Southeastern States. Do they get around, or what???

Many thanks, Mike and Melody, for driving out to my shop. I enjoyed our visit; I hope you had a good lunch? I know we will run into one another again in cyberspace or perhaps in Lemont one day in the future?!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The other afternoon I was tidying up the bathroom after our open stitch Tuesday evening and I didn't hear the customer walk in the shop. I left the customer alone to finish browsing and after a few minutes we struck up a conversation. I understood that she had heard of my shop from a friend and was interested in learning about a retreat. We talked about that a bit, then the topic turned to Blackbird Designs and their stitching retreats. I told her how some of my friends went to several of the Blackbird retreats and how just last week there was a frenzy in the shop over the little wooden boxes that Karin picked up at Hobby Lobby and the Kelmscott thread keeps that they were choosing to put inside said boxes. Laura has written quite the post about that night.

These boxes were featured in the new "A Stitcher's Journey" book that was recently released at the Nashville Needlework Market. Anyway, I don't want to get off on a bunny trail here....so back to my story. This customer was talking about Alma and Barb and had been to several of their retreats last year and did she say she stitched for them? I had to ask, "Did I hear you say you stitched models for Blackbird?" "Yes", she replied. How awesome! We chatted about that and I went and grabbed the book and we flipped through the pages and she pointed out which pieces she received at which retreat (I told you she attended several!) and then she showed me the piece which she model stitched for Alma.....which was the exact design that Karin had just brought to me last night to be framed!! Holy cow!! Do things come full-circle or what??!!

Yes, Stitchin' Rock Star Joan Seidel was at my shop. I am so glad she told me about the model stitching otherwise I might never have known. She also mentioned that she blogs and I made sure I brought it up on the computer before she left.

Here is a picture of Joan and her husband David, who is the reason she is in the Chicagoland area. He is here on business and she decided to accompany him. He is a very supportive DH and even encourages her in her art! He regaled us with a story of his involvement in a bidding war on eBay just to get a pair of scissors for Joan! If you hop over to her blog you will find what a prolific stitcher she is....at least sixteen finishes (and counting) for 2011! Thank you, Joan, for taking the time to stop at Inspired Needle and thanks to your friend for telling you about my shop!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

On the way to our cabin in Tennessee, my DH and I were looking for a Chick-fil-A so we could stop for lunch. We love that fast food restaurant and visit one every time we go South. I have discovered though that there is now a Chick-fil-A in Aurora and Orland Park, IL. Yippee! As we were still looking for the restaurant, we passed a building and my DH exclaimed, "Hey, Financial Peace Plaza. Isn't that Dave Ramsey's place?" Well, my head almost spun 360 to fix my eyes on the building. Lucky me, after lunch my DH drove over to Financial Peace Plaza and parked so I could get some pictures.

Being so close to the financial wizard, I had to go inside to see the lobby. Dave Ramsey hosts a radio show and offers hope to those who are in debt learn to manage their money and "live like no one else." Occasionally, when people that follow Dave's plan manage to pay off all their debts, they will drive out to Financial Peace Plaza so they could shout to Dave in person, "We're debt free!" I just had to go inside and see the lobby that I hear so much about.

As you can see, Dave's lobby is set up so if you happen to stop in while he's on the air, you can sit and watch him at work. It was very exciting to see Dave live and in action on the radio. If you ever wonder where your money goes, I urge you to check out Dave's website. He offers tools and programs to help you live within your paycheck and gives advice on how to pay off your debts and save for your future. It definitely changed my life!

I have been doing lots of framing the last few months. Here are some customer finishes. Below is Snowflake Serenade (Country Cottage Needleworks) stitched by Linda:

Next is the Mighty Oak Sampler (Chessie & Me) stitched by another Linda:

You may remember Jill's Cirque des Cercles (Ink Circles) from a previous post.

Well, here we are a few months later and Jill has finished. She sent me this photo but wow, I wish I was there to see Cirque in person!

The next Friday FunDay, I hope that Jill will bring in her work of art to share with us all.

That's all for today. I hope to have more customer finishes for you next time!Cathy

About Me

Owner of Inspired Needle Ltd, a brick and mortar retail needlework shop located in Lemont, IL. I've been doing some sort of needlework since a young girl. I never thought I'd own my shop but the opportunity presented itself and I ran with it! I love to go to work everyday! I'm also a member of Waterfall Glen Chapter EGA located in Darien, IL.